Perfect borders made easy

My son and I have been working for the past few weeks on redecorating his bedroom. For some time, he has asked for a bulletin board. While he would be perfectly happy with an inexpensive cork board from an office supply store, I've had my eye on one with fabric covered panels seen in expensive, trendy stores. I decided to save myself a few dollars and make one myself.

My son and I have been working for the past few weeks on redecorating his bedroom. For some time, he has asked for a bulletin board. While he would be perfectly happy with an inexpensive cork board from an office supply store, I've had my eye on one with fabric covered panels seen in expensive, trendy stores. I decided to save myself a few dollars and make one myself.

I began with a large frame found at a yard sale. It's best if the opening of your frame is equally divisible in both directions by 10, 11, or 12 so you can use cork panels cut to these sizes. Mine was slightly off so I had to do a little bit of easy math to figure my panel sizes which worked out to be roughly 10.5 inches x 10.75 inches. Not quite square but close enough that most people won't notice.

The frame needs to have a backing that's sturdy enough to support the cork panels and retain its integrity when papers are being pinned to it. If the board is too thin and the frame isn't designed so that the board is flush with the wall, it will bend when the pressure of pinning is applied. We used materials left over from the construction of our house but plywood can be purchased at home improvement stores.

The fabric is then cut slightly larger than the cork panels, allowing enough excess to fold over to the back of the panel. I used a thin fusible web between the fabric and the cork panel to both help hold the fabric in place and to give the fabric a crisp appearance. Place the cork panel in the center of the fabric, fold the excess over and clip the corners as desired to reduce bulk. I used Elmer's Wood Glue to adhere the fabric to the cork.

I also glued the fabric covered cork panels to the board using Elmer's Wood Glue.

For the price of a little bit of fabric, a used frame, and some cork panels, my son now has a pretty cool place to hang his important papers